Shifting Summer Cycling Gears
Hello community!
We just returned home this week after sharing precious time with family near Boston, relatives in Spain, childhood friends in Germany and a week of cycling adventures in the French Pyrenees. Living out west is where we feel most at home, but each time we fly across our massive country and overseas, we’re reminded of the time and effort it takes to stay connected to those dear to us who live so far away. The investment is always worth it, AND it takes awhile to get back into the swing of things when we return back home. (Where did we hide that Ipad and extra set of keys?) Thanks for your patience and grace as I coax my summer brain back into work mode. Some of my managers are still groggy and unable to type full sentences. :)
Witnessing ongoing thrills of victory and heartbreaks of defeat during the Olympics and today’s final, nail-biter stage of the grueling Tour de France Femmes intensified the emotions of my parts connected to being a female athlete and all that has represented in my lifetime. I've been so inspired by the increased parity, representation and outrageous success of female athletes. It's truly historic!
My emotions around the role cycling has played in my life and in our life are particularly heightened right now, as I’m overcome with the profound role cycling has played:
in our relationship the past 30 years. We met in college biking. Our first date was an 8 week self-supported bike tour through British Columbia and across Washington state. We left our wedding riding a tandem bike through the reception hall and out into a moonlit, Arizona desert. We celebrated our honeymoon bike touring in Europe. We trained and raced together for years during grad school in Syracuse, NY. Cycling is alive and well in the Schmidt Haus and probably always will be.
for each of us individually
in both of us suffering traumatic brain injuries from bike crashes. Getting back in the saddle helped each of us heal from our traumas. Yes, this puts us at risk, but not cycling is a world neither of us wants to live in.
in encouraging me to keep going and not give up in my efforts to manage and live with a “robust” case of rheumatoid arthritis. I was diagnosed in 2014 but given how the medications immediately relieved my symptoms, I believe the disease was present long before the diagnosis and emerged when I began bike racing in the early 2000s.
Both the men's and women's Tour de Frances often finish on one of the most famous and challenging climbs, the Tourmalet. This beast is 11.8 miles long, gains 4606 feet at an average gradient of 7.5%, up to 14%. Erik dreamt of climbing the Tourmalet since watching his hero, Greg LeMond, win the tour in the late 80s, and included this in our July Tour de Schmidt. See photos below.
The fact that I biked nearly 300 miles, climbed nearly 38,000 feet in 6 days as a patient taking three significant autoimmune medications (for my fellow RA friends: methotrexate, Plaquenil, and Humira) is nothing short of a miracle. I don’t take one pedal stroke for granted. Yes, there are a range of other factors that help me manage the RA such as diet, exercise and stress management, but this trip was a victory—for both of us.
I unexpectedly ran into my rheumatologist’s PA on Friday and burst into tears when I showed her this photo of us. Yes, this takes years of conditioning but also a lot of grit, determination, luck, modern medical advances, privilege in health care and insurance, and divine intervention. My heart is bursting with gratitude and wonder, which fortunately overshadows the fact that I succumbed to heat stroke a few hours after this photo, on the 2nd of 3 climbs that day. It wasn't pretty, but I made it back to our lodging in one piece, rested the next day and was able to ride 2 more glorious passes on our final day.
I share this in the hopes that it might encourage you to dig deep, to dream the impossible, to keep going despite challenges and discomfort. Figure out what accomodations you need to do what you need and want to do.
I’ve needed a range of accommodations over the years to reach some of my dreams--like laying down on the side of the road to reboot my brain and stretch. Do what you have to do to accomplish what you dream to accomplish. It may take longer and look kinda clunky but in the end, what does that matter? It doesn't. You can do this.
I can’t wait to hear some of your stories. I still have a dream to mail these Pauses in a format where we can interact and you can read one another’s comments. Ha, maybe this is my own nudge to figure out how to make that happen!
Find the support you need to do what you want to do. I wouldn't be on top of these climbs without Erik's patience, encouragement and company. We are stronger together. I know I'm incredibly lucky to have such a supportive partner in life.
Thanks for reading and for sharing with others. I hope to see you at upcoming IN PERSON Spokane and Kripalu retreats in September (keep reading!) or in an online consultation group beginning in October (details coming soon)!
in health,
Laura